MAIZE.
That grain, which the Spaniards call mayz, is the principal provisions of the Americans. It bears grains of divers colours. The Guaranies sow various kinds of it. Those best known to me are the abati hatâ, composed of very hard grains, the abati morotî, which consists of very soft and white ones, the abati mir̂i, which ripens in one month, but has very small dwarfish grains, and bisingallo, the most famous of all, the grains of which are angular and pointed: when pounded in a wooden mortar, they yield a sweet and very wholesome flour, and drunk with water, either alone, or mixed with honey or sugar, quickly allay hunger and the most burning thirst. This flour is the delicious food of the soldiers of St. Iago, when they pursue the fugitive savages, and by its aid they often accomplish long and arduous excursions in a few days, without ever being obliged to light a fire to cook their victuals. This flour was likewise a great relief to myself in calamitous journeys under a burning sun. Of the grains of each kind of maize, either whole, or pounded in a mortar, the Indian women make various sorts of food, and even a thin bread, dressed on the hot coals, which, however, hunger alone would render palatable to a European. The Spanish ladies, of maize flour, carefully strained through a sieve, make a white bread, which, while new, has an agreeable flavour, and is to my taste preferable to wheaten bread. The grains of maize, when pounded in a mortar, and sprinkled with water, ferment in a few hours, and frequently afford the lower orders of Spaniards, and still oftener certain Indians, a fermented liquor called chicha or aloja. The Abipones, who abound in honey and the alfaroba, though very fond of maize, never use it in that manner. Many and great are the advantages of maize, for it does not require a very rich soil. One grain often yields the cultivator more than a thousand-fold. The ears, when young and milky, are much relished both by Europeans and Americans, either roasted or boiled with meat. The Indians find this grain, however prepared, highly useful in strengthening the body, increasing the blood, and lengthening life. Neither could we discover any thing better for fattening hens and other animals.
BATATAS.[[2]]
Amongst articles of food used by the Indians, a high place is given to certain roots which the Spaniards call batatas, and the Germans earth-apples (erdäpfel). It would be superfluous to describe with prolixity a thing so commonly seen. Those of Paraguay are decidedly superior to the German ones in size and flavour. These roots, or rather bulbs, are sometimes white, sometimes red, and sometimes yellow, in Paraguay. In my opinion the red ones are by far the worst, and the yellow the best of all.
[2]. Potatoes.